Draft-equalizer.



No. 670,839. Patented Mar. 26, mm.

W. c.v CAMPBELL. .DRAFT EOUALIZER.

(Application filed June 30, 1900.)

(No Model.)

'relatively to each other.

UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM (E. CAMPBELL, ()l VASllON, WASHINGTON.

DRAFT-EQUALIZER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,839, dated March26, 19 01. Applioationfiled June 30,1900 Serial No- 22,159. No mod m Toall whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM C. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vashon, in the county of King and State of Washington, haveinvented a certain new and useful Draft-Equalizer, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to draft-eveners, and has for its object to producea device of this kind which can be manufactured cheaply and which willpossess great strength and can be applied to all purposes for whichdraft-animals are used and which will prevent sudden strains or surgesupon the animal and thereby give an even and steady pull.

With this object in view my invention consists in the. improvedconstruction and novel arrangement of parts of an evener, as will behereinafter more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference-numeralsindicate corresponding parts in each of the views in which they occur,Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved evener. Fig. 2 isa frontview of the doubletree portion. Fig. 3 is an end view of the doubletreeportion. Fig. 4-. is a front view of one of the singletrees. Fig. 5 isan end view of one of the singletrees. Fig. 6 is a transverse view of amodification.

Referring more particularly tothe drawings, 1 indicates the doubletreeportion of,

my improved draft-evener, and 2 2 indicate the singletrees, their saidparts being of the usual length andarranged in the usual order Theforward edge of each of these pieces is preferably straight; but therear edge is curved from the center nearly to each end, as shown at 3,the portion from the end of the curve to the end of the evener beingsubstantially straight and parallel with the front edge, as shown at 4.

Rigidly secured to the rear portion of each end of the evener is a flatsteel spring 5, which extends to a point substantially midway betweenthe ends of the curve and the ends of the evener and is formed with aneye 6. The springs are secured in position by means of bolts 7 in thedoubletree and by means of the fastening-clips 8 in the single- ,tree.If desired, two more springs may be employed, the one adjacent to theevener being shorter than the others and provided with the .ears 9toengage with the opposite provided near each end with the ordinaryclips 11 for the reception of the ordinary stay-chains.

Pivotally secured in each eye 6 is a substantially U-shaped clip 12, thesides of which pass, respectively, above and below the end of theevener, and the bottom, which is located in front of the forward edge ofthe evener, is provided with an open book 13 for the reception of thetraces or other draft appliances. When the evener is made from wood, theupper and lower surfaces of the ends thereof are provided with plates14, the outer end of each of which is bent upwardly to form a stop 15 toprevent the clip 12 from swinging off the end of the evener.

As above described, it is evident that my improved evener will possessgreat strength, as the strength of the wood will be reinforced by thatof the spring located to the rear thereof. It will also be noticed thatby curving the rear edge of the evener from the center toward the endsthe rigidity of the spring will be increased as its ends are drawn for-Ward, owing to the decrease in the portion of the springwhich isunsupported or projects beyond the curve. If desired, the curvature ofthe spring may be increasedfrom the center toward either end, which willincrease the efficiency and desirability of my improved evener, and byusing a series of leaves in each spring and making the inner onesshorter than, the outer ones the inner surface of the spring isvirtually caused to curve away from,

the curved surfaces of the evener, thereby increasing the efiiciency ofthe device. By

providing the eveners with open books they can be separated, so that thesingletree can be used separately from the doubletree, if desired. Theprinciple employed in my improved evcner can be utilized for thesingletree used upon light vehicles, thereby rendering the same verydesirable in different fields of usefulness.

. i i Instead of GOIlShlllfltillfl the evener from wood it can be madefrom a piece of sheet metal enrved ordonhled upon itself longitudinally,so as to he U-siutped in'cross-seetion, as shown at 16 in Fig 6. In thisconstruction the attaching-hook 17 may he passed throngiian opening 18intheend of theevener, or the ends of the evener may be bent upward in thesame mnnneras the plntesnt the ends of the wooden evener, and the clippasses upon the opposite sides thereto, as heretofore described, In themetallic evener a strip of wood may be fitted within the bent portion atthe ends, or it may extend from one end to the other.

Having thus i'niiydescribed my'invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- In adraft-evener, the eo'mhinetion, with an evener, the rem edge of which iscurved from 20 its center nearly to each end thereof, of a flat springseem-0d at its center to the center of the curved portion of the evener,each end of whieh extends to :L point intermediate the end of the curveand and is provided with an eye, of a, hook secured in said eye andextending, forward of the front edge of the evener.

WILLIAM C. UAMPHELLL Witnesses:

A. '1. Anunmsn, Jenn ARTHUR.

the end of the evener 25

